Aspiring RC Convert with no acceess to Orthodoxy

[Marcello M]

Hello to everyone,
I'm an Italian cradle Roman Catholic, and I currently reside in Japan. I am married with a Japanese woman (non Christian but very respectful of Christianity) and we have a 10 year old son.

I have felt a calling towards Orthodoxy for many years, but now after a few years of careful consideration I have come to the decision to convert to Orthodoxy. Unfortunately I live in a prefecture of Japan (Toyama) were there is no Orthodox presence at all. There is just one Roman Catholic parish that is very modernist/progressive. I often attend Mass there, though I must say I suffer through the service most of the time. Also, though I have been living here for over 5 years, I still struggle with the language very much, so even if I travel to another prefecture it would not be easy to have an honest deep conversation with a member of the clergy, since there are not that many Japanese who speak good English.

I would really appreciate any kind of guidance and I hope and pray our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will eventually lead this sinner to enter his Church.

Thanks to all that my have any useful advice.

 

[Tigger45]

Welcome to CF!

 

[Marcello M]

Welcome to CF!

Thank you!

 

[Daniel9v9]

Hey, welcome and the peace of Christ to you! Great to see a fellow member in Japan. I'm down in Osaka, where I have the joy of serving as a Bishop in the Lutheran Church.

I can relate to what you're saying regarding the state of the churches in Japan, and the difficulty of finding English services or clergy who are proficient in English. If you're looking to join the Eastern Orthodox Church, I regret to say that, at least to my knowledge, they are mostly found in and around Tokyo and Kansai, so they'd be pretty far from you. But I'm sure you've already researched this.

So, given the circumstances, you may have to consider the best alternatives. Doctrinally speaking, the Roman Catholic Church is perhaps the closest, so maybe consider a different parish? I don't know anything about it, but how about Kanazawa Catholic Church? Alternatively, you may also want to consider the Anglican Church — there are some high churches around. Or if you'd like to consider the Lutheran Church, I'd be glad to help with that.

God bless!

 

[Yeshua HaDerekh]

Hello to everyone,
I'm an Italian cradle Roman Catholic, and I currently reside in Japan. I am married with a Japanese woman (non Christian but very respectful of Christianity) and we have a 10 year old son.

I have felt a calling towards Orthodoxy for many years, but now after a few years of careful consideration I have come to the decision to convert to Orthodoxy. Unfortunately I live in a prefecture of Japan (Toyama) were there is no Orthodox presence at all. There is just one Roman Catholic parish that is very modernist/progressive. I often attend Mass there, though I must say I suffer through the service most of the time. Also, though I have been living here for over 5 years, I still struggle with the language very much, so even if I travel to another prefecture it would not be easy to have an honest deep conversation with a member of the clergy, since there are not that many Japanese who speak good English.

I would really appreciate any kind of guidance and I hope and pray our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will eventually lead this sinner to enter his Church.

Thanks to all that my have any useful advice.

contact the Met of Japan and/or the Bishop. List of parishes in Japan - OrthodoxWiki

 

[sunshineforJesus]

Hi and welcome to C F.

 

[All4Christ]

Welcome to CF! I recommend checking out the Orthodox Christian forum here, The Ancient Way.

The Ancient Way - Eastern Orthodox

 

[Brother-Mike]

Greetings and welcome!

 

[Michie]

Hello to everyone,
I'm an Italian cradle Roman Catholic, and I currently reside in Japan. I am married with a Japanese woman (non Christian but very respectful of Christianity) and we have a 10 year old son.

I have felt a calling towards Orthodoxy for many years, but now after a few years of careful consideration I have come to the decision to convert to Orthodoxy. Unfortunately I live in a prefecture of Japan (Toyama) were there is no Orthodox presence at all. There is just one Roman Catholic parish that is very modernist/progressive. I often attend Mass there, though I must say I suffer through the service most of the time. Also, though I have been living here for over 5 years, I still struggle with the language very much, so even if I travel to another prefecture it would not be easy to have an honest deep conversation with a member of the clergy, since there are not that many Japanese who speak good English.

I would really appreciate any kind of guidance and I hope and pray our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will eventually lead this sinner to enter his Church.

Thanks to all that my have any useful advice.

Welcome!

 

[Marcello M]

Im a bit slow and realised only now that this is a Christian forum with people from all denominations, not a specifically Orthodox forum, my bad. But thank you very much, "grazie" to all those that replied and/or posted a message of welcome, Orthodox or non Orthodox!

 

[Joined2krist]

Hi, and welcome!

 

[Cody J Dunbar]

Welcome to CF! I recommend checking out the Orthodox Christian forum here, The Ancient Way.

The Ancient Way - Eastern Orthodox

Yes, please join us here if you want to talk about Orthodoxy. There are a few active members of the clergy who could perhaps offer some guidance or answer questions.

Either way, welcome to the forum!

 

[abacabb3]

Hello to everyone,
I'm an Italian cradle Roman Catholic, and I currently reside in Japan. I am married with a Japanese woman (non Christian but very respectful of Christianity) and we have a 10 year old son.

I have felt a calling towards Orthodoxy for many years, but now after a few years of careful consideration I have come to the decision to convert to Orthodoxy. Unfortunately I live in a prefecture of Japan (Toyama) were there is no Orthodox presence at all. There is just one Roman Catholic parish that is very modernist/progressive. I often attend Mass there, though I must say I suffer through the service most of the time. Also, though I have been living here for over 5 years, I still struggle with the language very much, so even if I travel to another prefecture it would not be easy to have an honest deep conversation with a member of the clergy, since there are not that many Japanese who speak good English.

I would really appreciate any kind of guidance and I hope and pray our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will eventually lead this sinner to enter his Church.

Thanks to all that my have any useful advice.

The conviction to be an Orthodox Christian is critical and necessary for salvation--so you are doing the right thing trying to work out a situation which is relatively extreme (no parish). I'd say on vacation you may want to actually visit an Orthodox parish in Japan (or being that it is vacation, fly to somewhere warm, like Phnom Penh in Cambodia where Saint George's exists and their priest is fully fluent in English). It is not uncommon where distances are extreme to attend liturgy once a year at a far off location, but otherwise conduct reader's services at home.

This website gives you a whole list of how your worship without a local priest: When No Priest is Available: Reading the Service Books While Traveling or at Home

A woman in Sri Lanka in a similar situation wrote to Father Daniel Sysoev, a recent saint not yet canonized. His response is read out here:

If for whatever reason you want a priest to who is in Asia, (yes I know, a big place!) you can at least start running these questions by Fr Paisie, the rector of the church in Phnom Penh: https://www.facebook.com/paiskh

I hope the preceding helps, feel free to PM me if you have any other questions.

 

[Christoph Maria]

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WELCOME to Christian Forums,
Marcello!


“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
Deuteronomy 6:5
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“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
Isaiah 41:10

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“And Jesus looking upon them saith, With
men it is impossible, but not with God:
for with God all things are possible.”
Mark 10:27

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“The Lord is not slow to keep his promise.
He is not slow in the way some people understand it.
He is patient with you.
He doesn't want anyone to be destroyed.
Instead, he wants all people
to turn away from their sins.”
2 Peter 3:9

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[RileyG]

Welcome to CF!